ACTA ENTOMOLOGICA MUSEI NATIONALIS PRAGAE Published 15.xii.2014 Volume 54(2), pp. 785–788 ISSN 0374-1036 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:FA7CD654-6CA5-4C8F-8F5A-B74906EEFA3A

Description of the female of murciella (: : )

Jan ŠUMPICH

Department of Entomology, National Museum, Cirkusová 1740, CZ-193 00 Praha 9 - Horní Poþernice, Czech Republic; e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. Aphomia murciella (Zerny, 1914) was described from several males originating from Murcia and it is known only from the Spanish mainland. Based on recent series from Andalucia, a female is described here for the ¿ rst time. Photographs of adults as well as genitalia of both sexes are provided.

Key words. Lepidoptera, Pyralidae, Galleriinae, Aphomia murciella, female, Spain, Palaearctic Region

Introduction

The original description of Aphomia murciella (Zerny, 1914) is based on seven males collected in 1909 in the Sierra Espuña Mountains, Murcia province, Spain (ZERNY 1914). The type specimens and another male originating from Alfacar (Spain: prov. Granada) are deposited in the Natural History Museum, Vienna. So far, the only published ¿ ndings refer to the material mentioned above (SLAMKA 2006). Male genitalia of A. murciella were ¿ rst drawn by WHALLEY (1964) and recently published by SLAMKA (2006). Photographs of type adults were provided in the original description (ZERNY 1914) and later also by WHALLEY (1964) and SLAMKA (2006). A series of A. murciella containing specimens of both sexes from Andalucia, Spain, allowed me to describe the female here.

Material and methods

The presented material has been caught at light (UVA À uorescent tubes 8W) situated on stony slopes (Fig. 13), or beneath a rock overhangs covered with sparse steppe vegetation. The material examined is deposited in the following collections: GEPC Gustav Elsner collection, Praha, Czech Republic; JSPC Jan Skyva collection, Praha, Czech Republic; NMPC National Museum, Praha, Czech Republic. 786 ŠUMPICH: Female of Aphomia murciella (Pyralidae)

Results

Aphomia murciella (Zerny, 1914) (Figs 1–12)

Material examined. SPAIN: ANDALUCIA: Prov. Almeria, Tabernas env., Rambla de Tabernas, 400 m a.s.l., 3.viii.2010, 16  4 , J. Šumpich leg. (NMPC, JSPC, GEPC). Description of the female (Figs 4–5). Wingspan 18–22 mm, generally larger than in males (17–19 mm). Labial palpi well developed, moderately curved, brownish. Antennae ¿ liform. Coloration of wings similar to males, but generally darker with less contrast markings; black dot in discoidal area less distinct while well visible in males including dark specimens. Female genitalia (Figs 6–9). Papillae anales very short. Both anterior and posterior apo- physes are very long, the ratio of their lengths is approximately 1:1.7. Ostium bursae cup- -shaped, membranous, its bottom edge is reinforced with a narrow, strongly sclerotized arc. Antrum moderately sclerotized, fairly broad and slightly conical. Ductus bursae very narrow, delicate, helical towards antrum and slightly expanded to transition into the corpus bursae. Bursa copulatrix pear-shaped, extremely delicate, without signum. Remarks. The colour pattern of adults from Tabernas is less prominent than in the types (only males), the dark streak from the base of forewings reaching third to half the forewing length and the black spot in the discoidal area is more distinct. Differential diagnosis. The costal area of A. murciella is generally pale compared to other European Aphomia . The female genitalia of A. murciella are somewhat similar to those of Aphomia unicolor (Staudinger, 1879), but they differ in having both apophyses very long; the ratio of posterior apophyse length to eighth abdominal segment width is 6.2, whilst it is only1.8 in A. unicolor. The worn specimens of A. murciella could be mixed with cephalonica (Stainton, 1866) because of very similar structure of the male genitalia

Figs 1–5. Habitus of Aphomia murciella (Zerny, 1914), Tabernas. 1–3 – males (18, 17 and 19 mm); 4–5 – females (20 and 22 mm). Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae, 54(2), 2014 787

(Figs 10–12). The female genitalia of A. murciella differ from C. cephalonica signi¿ cantly in the length and thickness of the ductus bursae (SLAMKA 2006). Bionomics. The original description does not provide any habitat details. The specimen from Alfacar from 28.vii.1927 was captured at an altitude of 1500 m (SLAMKA 2006). from Tabernas were caught in early August at an altitude of 400 m in an arid locality with sparse vegetation (Fig. 13).

Figs 6–12. Genitalia of Aphomia murciella (Zerny, 1914). 6–9 – female genitalia: 6 – general view; 7–8 – detail of ostium area; 9 – abdominal segments I and II. 10–12 – males: 10 – general view; 11–12 – phallus with juxta (11 – lateral view, 12 – dorsal view). 788 ŠUMPICH: Female of Aphomia murciella (Pyralidae)

Fig. 13. Habitat of Aphomia murciella (Zerny, 1914) near Tabernas.

Distribution. Southern Spain: Murcia (ZERNY 1914), Andalucia (SLAMKA 2006; this paper), and Valencia: Alicante (La Marina, 16.ix.2001, more , J. Wolschrijn leg., J. Asselbergs det. (GP 4894), coll. J. Wolschrijn & J. Asselbergs) (J. Asselbergs, pers. comm.).

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to F. Slamka (Bratislava), G. Elsner (Prague) and J. Asselbergs (GD Ber- gen op Zoom) for their valuable comments, to J. Asselbergs and J. Wolschrijn ((Twello) for addition of their records from Alicante, and to P. Kment (NMPC) for critical reading of the manuscript. This work was ¿ nancially supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (DKRVO 2014/13, National Museum, 00023272).

References SLAMKA F. 2006: of Europe (Lepidoptera). Volume 1. Pyralinae, Galleriinae, Epipaschiinae, Catha- riinae & Odontiinae. Identifi cation – Distribution – Habitat – Biology. František Slamka, Bratislava, 139 pp. WHALLEY P. E. S. 1964: Catalogue of the Galleriinae (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) with descriptions of new genera and species. Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia 9: 561–618, pls. 14–44. ZERNY H. 1914: Über paläarktische Pyraliden des k. k. naturhistorischen Hofmuseums in Wien. Annalen des Kaiserlich-Königlich Naturhistorischen Hofmuseums 28: 295–348.